Deep Focus

Reflection On Indian Cinema

Satyajit Ray is acknowledged as one of the world’s finest film-makers. His films, from Pather Panchali in the mid-1950s to Agantuk in the 1990s, changed the way the world looked at Indian cinema. But Ray was not only a film-maker. He was also a bestselling writer of novels and short stories, and possibly the only Indian film-maker who wrote prolifically on cinema. This book brings together, for the first time in one volume, some of his most cerebral writings on film. With the economy and precision that marked his films, Ray writes on the art and craft of cinema, pens an ode to silent cinema, discusses the problems in adapting literary works to film, pays tributes to contemporaries like Godard and Uttam Kumar, and even gives us a peek into his experiences at film festivals, both as a jury member and as a contestant. Published in association with the Society for the Preservation of Satyajit Ray Films, and including fascinating photographs by and of the master, Deep Focus not only reveals Ray’s engagement with cinema but also provides an invaluable insight into the mind of a genius.

Satyajit Ray ( 1921-92 )was one of the greatest film-makers of his time. His first film Pather Panchali (1955) won an award at the Cannes Film Festival and established his reputation as a major director. Over the next forty years, he made a number of films, many of which went on to be acknowledged as all-time classics. He is the only Indian to receive the Oscar for Lifetime Achievement. He was also awarded the Bharat Ratna. His other writings on cinema include Our Films Their Films and Speaking of Films, both bestsellers.